


Mothers, Daughters, and Other Pains

by melissima



Category: Nikki & Nora
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 09:40:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13051404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melissima/pseuds/melissima
Summary: Nikki brought Nora closer to her mother, so Nora wants to do the same for her.





	Mothers, Daughters, and Other Pains

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mammothluv](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mammothluv/gifts).



> Thank you to Mammothluv for an excellent prompt and the opportunity to write these two. Happy Yuletide, and may you have a joyous 2018!
> 
> Eternal gratitude to my beta. <3 Any mistakes that remain, geographical and otherwise, are my own.

Nora caught Nikki's eye in the mirror, pretending not to mind as her partner coaxed her hair into the weird bun-thing that went with her steam-punk tour guide costume. Nora felt like some grubby Cinderella being transformed, except in her case, the fairy was no godmother.

Nikki's eyes glinted, raked wickedly over her body even as her delicate nails teased maddeningly light strokes across her neck, her ear, the tender spot below the angle of her jaw -- not ticklish, not sharp, but somehow suggesting the promise of both.

A shiver flowed over Nora from the top of her head to the base of her spine.

"Don't move, babe!" Nikki drawled, lightly tugging on a not-yet captured lock of hair. "You know you don't want me to have to do this twice."

The costume was suddenly stifling, every nerve in her body straining toward Nikki's body behind her, Nikki's breath in her ear. She'd never admit it, but sometimes when Nikki got like this, totally feminine and totally in control of her, she didn't want it to end. She was tempted to sneeze, or stumble, do anything to make it last. Sometimes she was even tempted to take it further, ask for even more of Nikki's demanding side, focused completely on her.

She blew out a sigh, allowed Nikki to mistake it for long-suffering patience. Their fugitive was expecting them, and she needed to get her _head_ in the game, not just her hair.

⚜

It didn't take long for them to scoop Darren up and pass him off to the uniforms. As she was picking the pins out of her hair, Nora mused: she could ask Nikki to indulge her control fantasies. It wasn't like she would be shocked by a little kinky play anyway, it was just out of the ordinary for Nora to be the one asking. But when she thought about how to word it, it sounded so stupid and weak.

Regardless, their new case heated up, and then the housewarming was coming up so fast they had to devote every non-working minute to the renovation. The next time she caught her breath was after the housewarming. She might have braved it then, but that night Nikki admitted just how torn up she was about being disconnected from her mom. She stared at Nikki's beautiful face, moonlit and grieving, with the warm glow of her own mom's hug still making her chest swell with happiness. She decided to track down Mrs. Beaumont herself.

⚜

It only took a couple days of long-distance legwork (with Dexter taking over when Nikki was paying attention) to locate her in some resort town in the southwest. An artist colony full of people pretending to leave behind their upper-crustiness. She left her number with the concierge at the resort where she'd discovered Mrs. Beaumont was staying, requesting a meeting without saying who she was. She knew the place was crawling with artists and buyers in the lead-up to the big annual arts festival. A brief public meeting wouldn't seem strange, and that way she could get up and walk out once she'd made her plea. She would do this for Nikki, but that didn't mean she wanted to be near Miranda Beaumont for one second longer than she had to.

She ordered a barn-door slide from a renovation place in Texas to finish their closet expansion, but told Nikki she didn't want to spend the money without seeing it in person first. There would be no keeping Nikki from suspecting something, so she spun a tale about driving on Saturday, stopping by her daddy's sister Beula's place for dinner and sleep, then heading home. It rang just false enough to make Nikki decide to play along, in case an exciting surprise was coming.

⚜

She wasn't a fan of solo road trips, but there was really no one she would bring on this errand. She got through it by stocking up on snacks and filling her phone with music. She mostly drove straight through, stopping once or twice for a nap and a coffee. Santa Fe was a long way from home, but the roads were good and the weather cool enough to cooperate.

At the appointed time, she walked into the cafe to see Mrs Beaumont, radiant in a flowing ivory caftan and sandals, her silver-streaked dark hair loose over her shoulders. She looked like a goddess or something, holding court over knots of rich-looking buyers and scruffy artists as if they'd built this festival in her honor.

Nora squared her shoulders and started toward Miranda Beaumont, reminding herself to be polite but firm, to stay in control of the conversation. She paused to take one last deep belly-breath, and in that tiny silent space Miranda's voice floated across the cafe,

"Y'all know I couldn't care less whether that girl of mine chooses a man or a woman to be with, but I do wish she would find herself somebody with the same. . . panache I endeavored to impart to Nicole. This partner of hers is so stiff you couldn't take her to a cotillion or a horse race unless you needed somebody to hold up the tent."

The crowd of artsy folks laughed, clearly delighted with how worldly and accepting Miranda was in spite of her proper southern roots. Nora felt her shoulders crawling up around her ears, and realized seconds later that she was striding up to her dusty rental car and digging for her keys. She didn't slow down to think until two or three highway exits separated her from Mrs. Beaumont and any other bitchy, self-satisfied things she might decide to say.

⚜

The drive home seemed three times as long; at first she stared numbly at the road glazed with sunlight. Gradually, cold fury crept in, crowding her mind with dozens of the devastating responses she could have--should have-- thrown in Miranda Beaumont's smug face. By the time she crossed the Louisiana state line, the sky was dark and moonless, and she was mad at _herself_ instead. Nikki was a consummate peacemaker, abiding all of Nora's griping while paving the way for a new bond between the Delaney women. Nora had wasted so much energy tracking Miranda down, gearing up for a confrontation, but when it counted, she ran. Like a coward.

The anger was exhausting. It wrung every bit of her out, until the tears could escape against her will. She scrubbed her face on her jacket sleeve, so glad she hadn't admitted what she was doing, so she could just go home and snuggle up to Nikki without admitting failure.

She let herself into the dark, paint-scented house, peeled off her clothes and stood under a nearly blistering shower. Maybe she was just that awkward. She knew Nikki wanted to be with her -- and now she knew that Nikki had paid for it in scorn and estrangement. Maybe she should sign up for some kind of charm school, or at least read some of those prissy etiquette books so she could talk to the society ladies.

Her thoughts stalled on a chilly breath of air, after the bathroom door swung open to admit a silhouette against the moonbeam from the hallway window. The shower curtain barely rippled as Nikki stepped in behind her, wordlessly molding herself to Nora's body, her hands sparking long stripes of tingly sensation down her arms, across her belly and up her back before tangling in her streaming hair. She tugged Nora's head to the side, chased a rivulet up her neck with a hot, pointed tongue before purring in her ear.

"I didn't expect you home until tomorrow."

Shame and embarrassment knotted in Nora's throat. She went rigid with misery.

"Nora?" Nikki slipped her fingers from her hair, and hugged her close. "What? Did something go sideways on your trip?"

She turned and buried her face in Nikki's neck. "Not--kind of. I'm not hurt or anything, I just..."

"Shhhh..." Nikki soothed, "you're home now," she held Nora close for a while, pulling back only when the water began to cool.

Nora tried to let the tension go, to revel in Nikki's heated skin, in the scent of jasmine and the sounds of their cozy little house at night. If she was the person she wanted to be, the one Nikki deserved, she would smile, would lavish affection on her generous, nurturing partner. But the lump in her throat would not melt, and the exhaustion wound itself around her spine until she could do nothing but curl up in their bed and wait for sleep.

⚜

She did sleep, at least until the wry bite of Miranda's voice pierced her dreams in the small hours. She traded the nightmare for hours of thinking, turning it all over in her mind, looking for the right way to change. She felt Nikki stir as gray morning light crept up the quilt toward her. Moments later the scent of coffee wafted in, and Nora made herself stretch and roll out of bed. None of this was Nikki's fault. She ordered herself to pull it together and join in their usual early morning breakfast ritual with the paper or a recent issue of Vogue, bickering companionably over sales and silly quizzes before getting to work on a case or the house. She dressed, still rolling the whole mess over in her mind.

Hand on the doorknob, she hesitated. She couldn't just fake being fine. No matter what story she fabricated about the trip, it wouldn't work. The truth was just so...painful. She had overreacted, was still overreacting. No one knew her as well as Nikki, and after all, they'd made their living spotting lies for a decade now. If she decided to find out what happened, she would. All Nora could really hope for was enough distractions to keep them both busy while she got over it in her own time.

⚜

Thankfully, Hewitt could keep them busy indefinitely. He called them with another skip trace before they even finished their breakfast. They spent Sunday tracking a slippery cat burglar across NOLA and deep into the bayou. Their fugitive ran like a track star despite the treacherous ground; they might never have caught her, if an eight-foot alligator hadn't raised up two feet in front of her on her daddy's own homestead. Nikki drew down, trying to decide whether shooting the 'gator would give the woman time to run. Nora grabbed two handfuls of Nikki's leather jacket and dragged her, slowly but steadily, backward across the yard up the rickety porch steps. The patriarch emerged with a shotgun and nailed that 'gator, and then waded out to retrieve his grimy, shaking daughter. Minutes later she was cuffed between them on an air boat, headed for jail. Guess her daddy figured jail was better than shot, or eaten.

⚜

As they settled into bed that night, Nikki cupped Nora's face in her hands and kissed her in a way that usually meant she was craving a heart-to-heart talk. A little panicked, Nora dove into the kiss, pinning Nikki's hands over her head and pushing a knee between her legs as she devoured her mouth, her neck, her breasts, suckling and grinding, overwhelming her with sensation.

The frustration and grief that had haunted her since the road trip ignited in a blaze of need, and she allowed the frantic energy to drive her, tirelessly pouring every flicker of it into Nikki's body as she touched and tasted her, burning every thought away in the bliss of her lover's hitching breath, her trembling limbs, and the breathy, desperate keen that she made of Nora's name before she collapsed against the pillows.

A relieved giggle bubbled out of her as she slid up along Nikki's liquid form and flopped over on her back. She bit her bottom lip, hoping the languor, combined with the exertion of the case, would lull Nikki into sleep. When her own breath slowed, she risked a peek.

Damn. Nikki was watching her, eyes sharp.

"Hell of a distraction," she purred, rolling over to flatten Nora on the bed. "Good thing I love a puzzle."

"Come on, darlin'," Nora drawled. "Don't spoil the mood."

Nikki rolled her hips and smiled evilly. "Wouldn't dream of it," she rose up away from Nora in one fluid motion, like a cat.

Nora grumbled, balling her fists at her sides in an entirely different sort of frustration.

Nikki blinked sweetly over her shoulder, scooping her cell phone up off the dresser. "So, I spoke to Remy from the restoration warehouse in Houston on Saturday, just about two hours after you left. He said he's awfully sorry that the package would be delayed a day, but the barn-door slide would arrive on Tuesday. He even knocked off ten percent for our trouble."

Oh shit. This was even worse than Nora feared -- Nikki had known the whole weekend that the hardware shopping was a ruse. She was going to get the truth of it now, if she had to stand there smiling until Tuesday, too. "It's not -- Nik I swear it's just-- It's totally stupid and embarrassing and I just didn't know how to explain....I'm an idiot. I messed everything up. I'm just so sorry."

The smile slid off Nikki's face as she noticed what Nora couldn't hide -- the shame pulling her shoulders up and her eyes down. Nikki's expression darkened further when, to Nora's horror, she felt her own eyes brimming. She tilted her chin up, holding her burning lids open so the tears wouldn't fall.

Silence dropped over the room like a pall as Nora got her breath under control. She curled onto her side and lay there waiting for Nikki to get frustrated and walk away, or yell, anything other than to stand there watching her come apart. The moments stretched, and then Nikki did walk away, but she didn't go far. She went around to her side of the bed and crawled in, wrapped her arms around Nora's waist and just waited.

She knew it was time to tell the whole story. She could delay it, but it wouldn't help -- she would just be more and more miserable until she cleared the air, and Nikki would wait, miserable too. It wouldn't be fair.

"You were so great with my mom," she whispered into the room still swirling with the combined scent of their skin, "You built us a path to each other...where there was always just this huge gap before. I wanted to give you the same gift. I thought if your mom knew how much you meant to me, how much you were hurting, she'd -- she loves you. I know she does." Nora closed her mouth with a click of teeth. She would _not_ repeat Mrs. Beaumont's snide remark.

Nikki pulled in a long breath, and paused. She squeezed Nora harder for a few seconds, and then she spoke: "Let me guess." Bitterness honed Nikki's voice to a cutting edge. "Mama said something completely awful, and you've been wrestling with it ever since, trying to figure out what it means about you as a person."

"She just wants--" Nora started, squirming around to face her.

"No," Nikki crooned, pressing gentle fingers to Nora's lips. "Trust me, babe, I really did try for thirty years to twist myself around into whatever that woman wanted in a daughter."

Nora took Nikki's hand, and squeezed it, sharing her sorrow.

Nikki squeezed back, and her lips quirked. Not quite a smile, but a snarky twist that Nora knew meant the classic Beaumont sass wasn't lost. "I think I told you before, I never once got it right according to mama. After I met you I -- I finally figured out that she doesn't even _know_ what she wants. Whatever is in front of her is always going to be a little too much, or just not enough for her taste. It's a sickness, but it's _her_ sickness, not mine. Not yours, either."

Nikki pressed their foreheads together, lapsing into silence. After a long moment, Nora pulled back to look at her face. "I thought I could shame her into bridging the gap she's made, but I _ran_."

"That's because you're smarter than the rest of us," Nikki shot back. "When you see there's a 'gator in the yard, you shake a leg!"

They both broke into watery giggles. Nora made a show of mopping at both their faces with a corner of the sheet, which cracked Nikki up even harder.

When they had quieted again, Nikki bumped Nora's shoulder conspiratorially. "Crying makes me hungry. Pizza?"

⚜

Six and a half slices of double pepperoni later, they headed for bed again. Nikki slid her pale, silky leg against Nora's tawny one, the evil grin returning to her vulpine face. "As I recall, only one of us was ready to switch gears, earlier. Guess I owe you an apology, baby."

"You're delicious," Nora said, before tilting her head bashfully, "but I've got pepperoni breath and I'm sweating like a long-haul trucker in a heat wave. Maybe I should take a rain check?"

Nikki tsked and crawled over Nora, lingering just a little in the slide of their bodies. "Now, why would we wait for rain when there's a shower right over here? I'll get you cleaned up as bright as a new penny."

Nora allowed herself to be tugged into the bathroom and peeled out of her tank and pyjama shorts. Nikki released her robe like an invitation, but when Nora bent to nibble her shoulder she stepped away and into the steaming spray. "Get in here."

Nora obeyed, her head swimming a little with the idea of letting Nikki take charge. She stepped in and squared her shoulders, looking up through her lashes. "Where do you want me, Miss Beaumont?"

Nikki's eyes widened, taking in Nora's blown pupils, the quick, shallow breaths, "I do _approve_ of such politeness. Don't you worry, darlin', I'll take care of everything. You just stand right there."

Nora bit her lip and waited, watching Nikki select a loofah and a bottle of peppermint body wash from the niche. Nikki scrubbed her back and shoulders until she finally chased away the tension that had lodged there on the drive home from Santa Fe. Sighing in contented anticipation, she heard Nikki fold to her knees, and felt breath on the back of her leg as Nikki washed each foot and calf. She startled when Nikki laved the back of one knee with her tongue, and gently took the skin there between her teeth. Another bite to the back of her thigh sent a jolt through her, brought a trickle of wetness that had nothing to do with the shower.

"Hmmm," Nikki purred, and slid her hands up to investigate, "I think you enjoyed that even more than I expected." She let her soapy fingers explore the slick folds, and bit down again, toward the inside of the thigh, and harder. Nora grunted, slapping both hands on the tile and locking her knees to keep them from shaking.

Every point of contact disappeared, as Nikki tsked once more. "Ladies must stand up straight, you know that."

Nora blew out a breath and steeled herself, standing up straight again.

"Good," Nikki cooed, "very good. But it's nasty of me to get you all soapy on this slick tile, so let's finish up so you won't fall." She slid her hands up to massage Nora's ass, pausing to nip at the rise of a hipbone, then rose to wash her stomach, breasts and arms.

Nora, thoroughly impatient now, grabbed for the shampoo bottle, only to have it snatched away.

Nikki pinned her with a look as she slowly poured a pool of shampoo into her palm and lathered it briskly into Nora's hair. That done, she nudged her under the spray and stepped back to wash her own body and hair efficiently.

Nora stepped close to help rinse the soap away faster, pulling Nikki into a greedy kiss as soon as the water stopped and beginning to edge her back toward the bedroom. Nikki melted against her for a moment, and then straightened, delight and mischief mingling on her face. "Why, Miss Delaney, I simply had no idea..."

Nora growled low, tugging at her.

Nikki danced away, but stopped to stare at her, catching her bottom lip with gleaming teeth, "I do believe I'll take my own sweet time with dessert."

⚜⚜⚜


End file.
